Mayors seeking meeting over Tourism Center Closures

Local municipal officials are seeking a meeting with Ontario's tourism minister to talk about the pending closure of the region's tourist information centres.

The cash-strapped province has said in its budget it plans to shut down centres in Fort Frances, Kenora and Rainy River at the end of this month.

Fort Frances mayor Roy Avis says he understands the government's need to save money, but wants to know if there are other options to keep the centres open.

He'd also like the government to delay the closures until at least the end of the busy summer season.

Several other tourism and municipal groups in the area are also looking for an audience with Tourism Minister Michael Chan.

The Future of Lakewood School Up for Discussion tonight

The fate of Lakewood School will be finally decided tonight.

Trustees with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board will be meeting tonight in Sioux Lookout.

One of the items on the agenda is Lakewood.

Over the past few months administration at the public school board has been gathering feedback about whether the school should be sold off so it can be transformed into an adult education center.

Should the school board elect to close Lakewood, Evergreen School, which was scheduled to close later this year, would remain open.

Gravelle Asks for Review of Northern Health Travel Grant

The Ministry of Health is being urged to review Northern Ontario Travel Grant applications on a case by case basis.

Thunder Bay-Superior Liberal M.P.P. Michael Gravelle made that request on the behalf of one of his consituents.

The northwestern Ontario woman recently had to travel to Calgary for a special cancer surgery, but was unable to collect the travel grant.

Gravelle wrote his letter last year and hopes to hear back soon.

Electoral Boundaries Commission Seeking Input

Input is now being sought on possible changes to Ontario's federal ridings.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty says its important area residents tell the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission of Ontario to keep northern ridings as they are.

Rafferty says if anything, the north should have at least one more seat in Ottawa.

He doesn't expect a decision on the new riding boundaries until at least next year.

Festival of the Arts gets underway today

An annual cultural tradition in Kenora gets underway today.

The Festival of the Arts will run for the next two and a half weeks at venues throughout the city.

Len Mark is one of the organizers and says the festival gives people of all ages a platform to showcase their talents.

Mark adds that the Highlights concert will wrap up the festival on April 28th at Knox United

Church. 

Local Young Drivers Office Wins National Award

National recognition for Young Drivers of Canada in Kenora-Dryden.

The organization has received the Centre of the Year award.

President of Young Drivers Canada Peter Christianson says Maria Bagdonas and her staff have worked hard at providing customer service and high quality education in the District.

He adds she managed to grow her business in a challenging economic climate.

Treaty Three Lashes out at new Mining Group

Grand Council Treaty #3 is taking a hard line against a group of junior mining companies called "Miners United".

The mining group spoke out at a recent conference in Toronto.

They said a revolt was taking place against first nations that were requesting revenue benefit sharing agreements.

Treaty Three Chief Diane Kelly says the comments of the group are unacceptible.

While she agrees the crown must do more under the Mining Act, she disagrees strongly with the tactics of Miners United.

She says in many instances Treaty Three has developed strong partnerships with mining companies because of their committment to talk.

Health Unit warns of Water-borne illness

The presence of a water-borne bug at two water parks in Minnesota has the Northwestern Health Unit issuing an advisory.

Cryptosproidum was recently identified at Edgewater Water Park in Duluth and the Paul Bunyan Water Park in Brainaird.

The Northwestern Health Unit says there have been three known related illnesses in this area, all occurring around the recent March break.

Old Man Winter Returns

Old man winter isn't done with us yet.

A blast of arctic air is going to keep things chilly for at least the next two days.

Bill Laidlaw from Signal Weather Services says the good news is the snow won't stick around for long.

The normal highs for this time of year is 8 degrees.

Trek from Kingfisher Lake Completed

Fundraising efforts continue for a new building to house a treatment program in Kingfisher Lake First Nation.

The campaign has hit a high note with the completion of a 500-kilometre walk from the remote Northern community to Sioux Lookout.

37-year-old William Mekanak and 16-year-old Bryan Sainnawap embarked on the journey to raise money for the prescription drug detox program.

The two walkers say a new centre to run the program is needed to combat the problem.

The goal is to raise 150-thousand dollars.

School Board's Worried About Possible Amalgamations

Is a merger forthcoming involving the Rainy River District School Board and the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board?

That's a possibility if the Provincial budget passes.

Mike Lewis is Chair of the Rainy River Board and he says it may help the province reduce the deficit but stresses there's more to consider than just money.

Lewis is encouraging residents and communities to speak up in opposition.

Fraser Institute releases latest report on Secondary School's

The Fraser Institute is out with is annual evaluation of secondary schools in Ontario.

Its mixed news in Kenora, where Thomas Aquinas saw its rating increase, while Beaver Brae slipped a few notches.

Study author, Michael Thomas says while some educators don't like their report, he thinks its still valid.

Thomas Aquinas was rated 84th out of the 718 schools ranked in the yearly report.

Beaver Brae was 623rd overall.

Saints, Sinners and Spirits at the Museum

Lake of the Woods Museum is looking into the dark underbelly of Kenora's past.

A new exhibit opened last week up called Saints, Sinners and Spirits.

Museum spokesperson Braden Murray says there's a long history of rum-running on Lake of the Woods.

The exhibit, developed by staff at the museum, will run until June 9th.

New Forest Fires Reported over the Long Weekend

The forest fire season in northwestern Ontario is only a week old, but there's already been 13 fires reported in the Kenora District.

Over the weekend, two more fires were reported.

One grew to 6 hectares in size before being brought under control.

The other was just a small 0.1 hectare blaze north of the city.

Both are listed as human-caused.

Fires were also reported in the Dryden and Fort Frances Districts as well this Easter Long weekend.

NOMA Supports Local Tourist Centers

There's more support for keeping tourist information centres in Fort Frances, Kenora and Rainy River open.

The Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is the latest to voice its opposition to the planned closures.

NOMA President Ron Nelson wants Tourism Minister Michael Chan to meet with area tourism officials and hold off hold off on the closures until then.

OCN Penguins with 5th Consecutive NAFN Title

Manitoba teams once again dominated the North American First Nations tournament of Champions.

For the 5th year in a row, the OCN Penguins took the A-side champioship winning the 20 thousand dollar first prize beating the Sandy Bay Feathermen 5-3.

In the battle for 3rd place, Eagle Lake shut out the OCN Blues 2-0.
In the B-side final, Grassy Narrows beat up on Shoal Lake 7-2.

In the Oldtimers division, Shoal Lake eked out a 2-1 win over the Whitefish Bay Rangers.

Senior Thistles Advance to Allan Cup

The Kenora Triple "a" Senior Thistles will be playing for Allan Cup for the second year in a row.

The Thistles hosted the tournament last year, but this year they played their way in by winning the Renwick Cup, and will be the Ontario representitives.

The Kenora squad beat Dundas in two straight games in the best-of-three series over the weekend.

The Thistles capped the series Saturday night with a convincing 6-1 win.

Jeff Richards had a three goal game.

Friday night, Kenora beat Dundas 5-2.

The Allan Cup starts one week from today in Lloydminster.

Beaver Brae dominates NorWOSSA Badminton Qualifier

Beaver Brae Badminton players dominated the NorWOSSA qualifying tournament yesterday.

A total of 13 Broncos placed either first, second or third in their respective divisions.

Thomas Aquinas had seven top three finishes.

The NorWOSSA Championships will take place in Dryden next Wednesday in the boys and girls singles, doubles and mixed doubles divisions.

NAFN Tournament Returns this Weekend

An Easter Weekend sporting tradition returns to Kenora.

The North American First Nations Tournament of Hockey gets underway this evening at the Kenora Rec. Center.

As many as 16 teams will be vying for the guaranteed first prize money of 20 thousand dollars.

OCN is back to defend its title in the open division this year.

There will be an Oldtimers tournament this year as well, with eight teams looking to win five thousand dollars.

Action gets underway at the Thistle Rink at 6:00 this evening and wraps up Sunday afternoon.

The Oldtimers final is 3:00 followed by the A-Side final at 5:45.

OPP Launch Easter Weekend Traffic Bliz

The long weekend has begun, and so has the holiday safety blitz by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Sgt. Shelley Garr says officers are on the lookout for impaired and aggressive drivers, unfastened seat belts and drivers talking on cell phones that aren't hands-free.

Garr says long weekend's usually bring extra traffic onto the roadways with people travelling to get to Easter celebrations.